Brian "The Pikeman" Moore of Straight Blast Gym Ireland (SBGi) was kind enough to answer a few questions exclusively for SevereMMA.com about his recent controversial decision loss to TUF veteran Gary Kelly at OMMAC 14 among other things.

You are coming off a very controversial majority decision loss to Gary Kelly in his hometown of Liverpool at OMMAC 14 last weekend, What did you make of the decision and how did you score it?

In my opinion it was a ridiculous decision. The fight went like this; In Round one I landed more strikes on the feet and got him looking for a takedown. Not only did I stuff all his attempts but I took him down which gave me the only takedown of the round. I dominated round 2 and in round 3, I messed up in a scramble, he took my back and won the round. It was a clear 29-28.

I was the more active fighter, got the better on the feet and got the takedowns. Gary had a good 2 minute spell at the end of the third and that was it. I guarantee deep down he know he didnít win. The result should be looked at again by experienced judges and rematch put in the works.

What did you learn from the Gary Kelly loss at OMMAC 14?

Donít leave it in the hands of the judges and scramble like a motherfucker.

Was there anything about Gary Kelly that surprised you?

No, Gary is a TUF season 9 contestant and has been around for a long time. He trains in a good camp so I knew he would be well rounded and a tough fight.

Was there anything that surprised you about Kelly? Did he feel strong in there?

He is a strong guy but most FW at that level are. Heís a solid compact guy and used his weight very well.

You had a long training camp for the fight due to event postponements and injuries, is there anything training wise you learned?

I learnt a lot whilst training for this fight. It was a very long camp and I trained the same the whole way through. I was in the hospital from over training at one stage which was a result of inexperience. But I learnt from it and wonít make the same mistake again. My training age for MMA is 3 years so Iím still learning and striving to get the balance right. The next time I get in Iíll have much more energy and strength.

Do you think that OMMAC getting postponed had a negative effect on your performance?

Perhaps but itís up to me as a professional not to let it affect my performance. Again, I learnt from the mistake.

How quickly will you return to the gym?

I was back training in SBG on Wednesday and was very glad to be back.

Do you cut much weight to get to featherweight?

I cut a decent amount of weight. I weighed myself the day of the fight and I was back up to 73kg after making 66kg the day before. Some guys cut a hell of a lot more but Iím comfortable where I am.

With your teammates Owen Roddy moving to bantamweight and Paddy Holohan considering moving to flyweight, could you see yourself moving down in weight in the future?

No. Iím happy at Featherweight and staying there for now but may consider cutting off a limb in the future

You have never been finished in your career and your only other loss came at OMMAC 12 against unbeaten prospect Mike Wilkinson (7-0) by decision, which outcome was harder to take?

When I lost to Mike Wilkinson, I took the loss on the chin. I knew he outpointed me and done enough to win. There were circumstances that made it hard for me to perform to my best but I congratulated him, made no excuses and got back to the gym.
This result however has left a bad taste in my mouth. At best, if Gary was blessed and the judges were very biased, they could have awarded him the draw, but for the judges to award him the win was a terrible decision and nothing short of ridiculous.

"At the minute I'm back doing some light training and rolling at a very low intensity, 2 to 3 times a week from 11 to 12 times a week. I had all the symptoms of overtraining so I needed some time off. I was both mentally and physically burnt out and needed some rest and recovery time"

saul i rang your coach and explained the situation. sometimes fighters say things within the first 48hrs then they change their minds when the emotions have calmed down
- yes he did say he was retired, he then after a few days reflection called me on tuesday to say he'd be back
- by 'back' he was just doing a bit of jits, just to get back in the gym
- due to the nature of the loss, the over-training, he was not ready to get back into 'proper mma' training and take another tough fight at such short notice. looking back it was probably not a great idea to take 2 such tough fights so close together. hindsight is 20/20
- one day you might have a tough questionable decision loss and give an interview where you dont think out exactly everything you say.
best of luck